Southcentral Alaska now Available Online
New Web site features commercial property and market characteristics
for Anchorage, Mat-Su and Kenai Peninsula
The Anchorage Economic Development Corporation has launched a new online mapping tool to attract and expand businesses and jobs in Southcentral Alaska. The Web site, AnchorageProspector.com, provides access to customized market research and commercial property listings in Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna and Kenai Peninsula boroughs.
The online program is the first of its kind in Alaska. A goal of the program is to simplify the process of working with regional government when preparing for relocation and expansion decisions.
“Now businesses will no longer have to leaf through reams of Census Bureau reports for demographic information or contact multiple city departments for basic data and documents,” said Bill Popp, president & CEO of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation.
The development corporation partnered with its Southcentral neighbors to provide a resource that provides collective data for the entire region.
The free site gathers economic, planning, infrastructure, geographic and demographic information often sought by businesses looking to relocate or expand into a ‘one-stop-shop’ business portal on the Web. It allows users to view, create and print maps; find available commercial or business property; and develop custom demographic radius reports.
For example, a new deli interested in opening in downtown Anchorage can visit the site to see available locations, number of competitive eateries, number of downtown employees and potential customers and amount of money spent on dining in the downtown area. Within a one-mile radius of downtown Anchorage the Web site reports there are 2,180 businesses with 26,975 employees; 80 restaurants; and that households in the area spend on average $3,323 on dining.
According to GIS Planning, the software developers of AnchorageProspector.com, more than 90 percent of the initial site-selection screening is now done using the Internet.
Chris Stephens, an associate broker and partner of local commercial brokerage Bonds, Stephens & Johnson, is pleased to see the new resource. “The Web site is tangible evidence of the City of Anchorage and Mat-Su and Kenai Peninsula boroughs’ commitment to partnering with the commercial real estate community,” he said. “This outstanding site will be an invaluable tool to inform corporate real estate executives around the globe of the dynamic business environment found in Southcentral Alaska.”
Popp added, “This site will help knock down geographic barriers and make Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska much more accessible to the world.”
Commercial realtors are invited to post their properties on the site and Popp will be speaking at community meetings throughout Southcentral in coming months to introduce the new resource and its applications.
|